Thread: Placement of tick marks

I have a bar graph with both negative and positive values. I found out how
to move the category labels from the middle to the bottom, but I can't seem
to figure out how to move the tick marks from the middle to the bottom (next
to the labels).

Any suggestions?

You have to move the category axis to the bottom. Do this by double
clicking the other axis, the Value axis, and changing the Crosses At
setting. There's no Crosses At Minimum setting, but I've found that I
can enter a ridiculously low value for Crosses At, way below any minimum
that chart will encounter, and the axis will always cross at whatever
minimum appears on the scale.

However, this is likely to mess up your columns, which Excel likes to
start at the axis. So your bars will go from the bottom of the chart up
to the value, even if the value is negative.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
http://PeltierTech.com/
_______


J. McAdams wrote:

> I have a bar graph with both negative and positive values. I found out how
> to move the category labels from the middle to the bottom, but I can't seem
> to figure out how to move the tick marks from the middle to the bottom (next
> to the labels).
>
> Any suggestions?

Thanks for your reply.

Yeah, but I was hoping to keep the x-axis in the middle of the screen.
Otherwise, as you say, the graph look strange when the bars come up from the
bottom of the screen. It loses the whole "positive/negative" effect I was
going for.


"Jon Peltier" wrote:

> You have to move the category axis to the bottom. Do this by double
> clicking the other axis, the Value axis, and changing the Crosses At
> setting. There's no Crosses At Minimum setting, but I've found that I
> can enter a ridiculously low value for Crosses At, way below any minimum
> that chart will encounter, and the axis will always cross at whatever
> minimum appears on the scale.
>
> However, this is likely to mess up your columns, which Excel likes to
> start at the axis. So your bars will go from the bottom of the chart up
> to the value, even if the value is negative.
>
> - Jon
> -------
> Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
> Peltier Technical Services
> Tutorials and Custom Solutions
> http://PeltierTech.com/
> _______
>
>
> J. McAdams wrote:
>
> > I have a bar graph with both negative and positive values. I found out how
> > to move the category labels from the middle to the bottom, but I can't seem
> > to figure out how to move the tick marks from the middle to the bottom (next
> > to the labels).
> >
> > Any suggestions?
>

Hi,

Add a dummy set of data, can be a copy of the original. Move this to the
secondary axis. Use Chart Options to enable the secondary X axis. Format
the primary x axis to have no tick marks or labels, this will give you
the line in the middle of the chart. Format the secondary Y axis to have
values in reverse order. This will flip the secondary x axis to the
bottom, including tickmarks.
Now format the dummy data series with no border or fill colour and
remove secondary Y axais formating.

Cheers
Andy

J. McAdams wrote:
> Thanks for your reply.
>
> Yeah, but I was hoping to keep the x-axis in the middle of the screen.
> Otherwise, as you say, the graph look strange when the bars come up from the
> bottom of the screen. It loses the whole "positive/negative" effect I was
> going for.
>
>
> "Jon Peltier" wrote:
>
>
>>You have to move the category axis to the bottom. Do this by double
>>clicking the other axis, the Value axis, and changing the Crosses At
>>setting. There's no Crosses At Minimum setting, but I've found that I
>>can enter a ridiculously low value for Crosses At, way below any minimum
>>that chart will encounter, and the axis will always cross at whatever
>>minimum appears on the scale.
>>
>>However, this is likely to mess up your columns, which Excel likes to
>>start at the axis. So your bars will go from the bottom of the chart up
>>to the value, even if the value is negative.
>>
>>- Jon
>>-------
>>Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
>>Peltier Technical Services
>>Tutorials and Custom Solutions
>>http://PeltierTech.com/
>>_______
>>
>>
>>J. McAdams wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I have a bar graph with both negative and positive values. I found out how
>>>to move the category labels from the middle to the bottom, but I can't seem
>>>to figure out how to move the tick marks from the middle to the bottom (next
>>>to the labels).
>>>
>>>Any suggestions?
>>

--

Andy Pope, Microsoft MVP - Excel
http://www.andypope.info